Public Safety
I support our police officers and applaud the work that an overwhelming majority of them do to maintain Fairfax County as the safest jurisdiction of its size in the entire country. However, I also recognize that even one instance of excessive force by our police department is too many, and that we still have so much work to do.
As a Board member, my top public safety priority will be transparency. Our Board of Supervisors is a reflection of our community, charged with representing the interests of our residents. If we are not regularly publishing data and outcomes related to public safety that our community can understand, then Board Members will never be able to accurately reflect the interests of our residents. As a Board Member, I would actively engage Chief Davis and the Department's Data Director to achieve a goal of releasing comprehensive public safety data on a monthly basis.
In my view, one of the most innovative public safety initiatives that the County has undertaken is the new co-responder program (where officers are paired with mental health clinicians) launched by Supervisors Lusk and Alcorn. As a Board Member, I will commit to supporting ongoing funding for that program, and leveraging my expertise in technology and business development to amplify its impact.
I’ve spent my entire career using technology to solve problems. One of the best things about technology-based solutions is that the next iteration of technology means that every solution has the opportunity to be optimized. Body cameras and electronic control weapons are a positive step forward in police accountability and non-lethal force, but Fairfax County needs to stay on the cutting edge. As a Board Member, I will advocate for increased funding for drone technologies, and non-lethal tools such a bolo-wrap in order to increase FCPD’s effectiveness while simultaneously decreasing its lethality.
I will also work to advocate and incorporated Red Flag laws and other common-sense gun laws into our county. It’s been known that they can be very effective at reducing gun violence by removing firearms from people who are a threat to themselves or others, but only when they are implemented correctly and when the public is aware of them and know how to use them.